Kyle Allen loves football. When the former Carolina Panthers and Washington quarterback isn’t playing, he usually has a screen going with the latest game being played.
When Week 3 of 2021 kicked off with a Thursday nighter between Allen’s former team, Carolina, and the Houston Texans, Allen got to take a look at a future teammate in Davis Mills, who was making his first career start.
“I remember watching him play, and I remember his first game against Carolina and seeing that he looked good,” Allen told reporters on Monday at Houston Methodist Training Center. “Like he looked solid; mechanics were really good.”
Mills was making the start on short notice as starter Tyrod Taylor had strained his hamstring in Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns. The Texans had a short week to prepare for Mills to make his first career start, and the third-rounder from Stanford went 19-of-28 for 168 yards and a touchdown. Although the rookie took four sacks, Mills demonstrated an ability to protect the football, even if it may have been to the detriment of the offense, which was also struggling to develop a rushing attack at the time.
Nevertheless Allen kept watching Mills and noticed the rookie improve — much the same way Mills has been steadily trending upward throughout the preseason.
Said Allen: “Seeing him throughout the year he looked good, so kind of seeing him in practice and in preseason, I’m not really surprised, I’m just excited to see what happens.”
The Texans take on the San Francisco 49ers Aug. 25 at NRG Stadium. Mills could see some action as it will be the last time they take the field in an exhibition game until their regular season opener against the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 11 at NRG Stadium.
